Enrollment is up or stabilizing at four UW branch campuses and dropping at five campuses | Green Bay Press Gazette

UW System releases branch campus enrollment estimates following outcry

Four University of Wisconsin System branch campuses increased enrollment since last fall, while five saw student headcount decline, according to preliminary estimates released after an outcry from media organizations and a government transparency advocate.

UW System President Jay Rothman announced last week that campus-level data would no longer be released. He said a university’s total enrollment was the “best number to report” because some students take classes at multiple campuses, and it’s “hard to try to pinpoint exactly” where the students are.

Six of the 13 branch campuses have closed or will by the end of this school year, with declining enrollment cited as the primary justification for closure.

UW-Platteville Richland shuttered after the spring 2023 semester. UW-Milwaukee at Washington County, UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac and UW-Green Bay Marinette either closed or ended in-person instruction at the end of the 2024 spring semester. UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha and UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities will close after the spring 2025 semester.

That leaves seven operating branch campuses, four of which reported increasing or stabilizing enrollment from the previous year:

• UW-Eau Claire Barron County increased headcount from 463 to 522 students
• UW-Green Bay Manitowoc increased headcount from 404 to 494 students
• UW-Green Bay Sheboygan increased headcount from 435 to 440 students
• UW-Whitewater Rock County increased headcount from 696 to 715 students

The five campuses reporting enrollment decline from last fall are:

• UW-Platteville Baraboo/Sauk County decreased headcount from 210 to 185 students
• UW-Stevens Point-Marshfield decreased headcount from 283 to 158 students
• UW-Stevens Point-Wausau decreased headcount from 364 to 286 students
• UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha decreased headcount from 708 to 597 students and is closing at the end of the spring 2025 semester
• UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities decreased headcount from 563 to 453 students and is closing at the end of the spring 2025 semester

The UW System said it started providing campus-level enrollment estimates based on first-day counts in fall 2020 because of public interest in whether students would return to college amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to spokesperson Mark Pitsch. The UW System has continued the practice “in the interest of transparency to provide the public an enrollment estimate as early as possible in the fall semester.”

The numbers could slightly change. Final figures based on the 10th day of classes will be released later this fall.

Source: UW System releases branch campus enrollment estimates following outcry